itisjustmyopinion

Good morning all. Hope you all had a good evening and rested well. i know i did, so i have a lot of energy.  i am warning all who read this that this is going to be a blog filled with a lot of venting over a lot of issues, so buckle up because this could be a rough ride…but i promise, you will survive.

i awoke this morning and turned on the news and the first story i heard was about the post office.  They are thinking of cutting back to a 5 day delivery week; okay, fine.  They are planning on raising the price of stamps by 2 cents; okay, tired of price hike, but still okay.  Then i hear that the Postmaster General is going to get a $100,000 pay raise next year.  That is not a typo.  ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS in a pay raise; all the while the USPS is $6 BILLION in debt..NOT OKAY!!! Not by any means is this okay.  i like to consider myself a fairly intelligent person, but i just cannot wrap my mind around this line of thinking.  i have never understood how the banks, with the first ‘bail out’, could all get away with these lavish vacations; ONLY for the CEO’s, don’t ya’ know, and then be able to come back to the government with their hand out AGAIN,  and the government GIVES IT TO THEM…DUH?  What happened to the mandating and oversight that was supposed to be in place on this $700 Billion of government money, in other words, taxpayer’s money?  They STILL don’t have any oversight in place, like they said they were going to have, because this was government money going into the system, not stockholder’s money.  So the government should have been like a watchdog over these funds, but that apparently has never happened. Just more political speak, to make us feel better for the time.

And then, Nancy Pelosi, who’s job is Speaker of the House, is, and has been, sticking her nose in where it doesn’t belong, and the people above her are not reeling her in. It just amazes me. i do not remember Tip O’Neal going to broker deals with middle eastern people, or going to the “big 3″ auto makers to make a deal with them.  i could be wrong, but i don’t think that is in her job description.  She has no business doing anything except sit her butt in that chair at the house and rule over it.  Anybody got some duct tape?  And speaking of the ‘big 3′, comedians can’t write material this good.  Not only do they have the nerve to show up in Washington, on PRIVATE jets, no doubt; to ask for money; but they were asking for money that was never intended for them.  The first $700 billion ‘bail out’ money was for the financial market to help the banks rewrite the loans and help the homeowners, since that is where this whole breakdown started in the first place, a little under 3 years ago, now; when the DEMOCRATS were in charge of BOTH SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES….so fast forward to the ‘big 3′ coming with their hand out..they are NOT part of the financial market; they are part of the INDUSTRIAL market..totally different entity entirely, and they STILL get money..

Then another stimulus bill is passed..well, i should say it was rushed through and signed off on, by the Pres himself, even though, most of the Republicans NEVER had enough time to read the thing…And this is okay with all the Obama love fest people..it is okay to pass whatever law, bill, precedent, whatever, as long as the Republicans don’t even get a chance to read what all is involved..Trust me, the world would not have imploded  in 5-7 days, to give the Republicans a chance to read through the 700+ page bill, to see what it entailed.  But NO: Not with the DEMS in charge..if the shoe were on the other foot, i bet their would be such a public outcry from the Dems, it would be ridiculous.  Nothing would ever get done.  My only point is that the Republicans should have had an opportunity to at least read through the piece of crap, oh wait, i mean legislation, before it was rushed through to be signed off on..

It is a scary state of affairs when NO Republicans and 8 Democrats voted against this latest stimulus package and it STILL passes..please do not get or extract the idea that i am a die hard Republican..If the Republicans were in charge of all three houses, i would find that just as troubling.  Our nation is, and always has been, set up to be a Democratic nation, meaning both sides get a say..not just one..But i am truly afraid that we are not going to be democratic for very long with all that is happening..if you put the pieces together, we are not going to have to worry about becoming a socialist nation; nope, we are going to jump right over socialism and land head first into communism..

IF you disagree with me, why does the government want to start nationalizing 2 banks, which is eventually going to lead to them nationalizing all banks..  This type of governing does not, and will never work for America..People, you need to wake up..Open your eyes and see what is happening. THIS IS INSANITY.. and we are free falling straight to a place that the people who are part of the OBAMA NATION are NOT going to like at all.

President Obama caved to the left in appointing Leon Panetta as head of the CIA.  Mr. Panetta was part of the Clinton administration; very intelligent and capable man.  I have no problem with him, except for the tiny, insignificant detail that he has no experience in central intelligence.  The left is being famous for being soft on terror..and they have proved it 2 different times so far.  Number one, President Obama’s appointment of Mr. Panetta.  He does not believe in torturing prisoners of war. I guess he thinks that instead of prison, they should be put up at the Ritz Hotel, on taxpayer’s dollars, of course. Because putting them in prison is too tough and pampering them is going to gain the intel that they need to protect us from another major attack..sure; is it just me, or does this not sound right?  Secondly, President Obama, in all his wisdom, did away with the war on terror.  That means he fixed something that wasn’t broke. You can be a Bush hater all you want, but you have to, at the very least, give him the credit for keeping our country safe for the last 7 years.  i want you to understand that i am not a Bush lover either, just as i am not an Obama hater.. i believe there were so many mistakes that Bush made, but Obama is not helping making Bush’s mistakes right..In a sense, what President Obama did when he did away with the war on terror, along with Mr. Panetta, is do away with most of the safeguards that were put in place after 9/11 to keep us safe.  i ask you, how many times have we, as Americans, been attacked since then again?  Oh, that’s right..NONE!

The closing of Gitmo is another thing that bothers me and just hang with me for a second and let me make this point, before you start throwing things at the screen and yelling at me, as you probably have well before now.  Gitmo was set up on Cuba for a very good reason. It was solely put there, so that if it were set up on our land (the contiguous states), we would not become a larger target for our enemies.  It was set up on ‘neutral’ territory; where it should be.  But now, they want to house those that are there at the Supermax Prison in Colorado; without their permission.  This concerns me.

i do believe that some of the prisoners at Gitmo are absolutely without fault and not guilty of anything; and i believe that all Gitmo needed was an overhaul; not shut down completely. To me, Gitmo is a necessary entity and belongs where it is for the reason stated above. It does not belong here in the US. This is only going to make us an even larger target, and since the terrorists probably did NOT get the message from Obama that the war on terror is over, i am expecting a terrible, tragic, and catastrophic event to happen within his first year of his first term; which will be horrible, sad and what’s more, preventable.

If it is coming off that i am a Bush lover and an Obama hater, i am not. But i see all of this stuff happening and it is scaring me, as it should you.  i understand that Obama inherited a real big mess.  But not all of it was Bush’s fault; some but not all.  What we are experiencing is not even close to democracy.  Our founding fathers wanted there to be 3 branches of government to avoid a ‘monarchy’ type of regime.  They wanted a BALANCE of power.  We do not have that now and won’t for at least 2 years, if not 4.  And i  will repeat to you that i would not be too happy if all the Republicans were in charge of all 3 branches either.  Our founding fathers never wanted this to happen.  They came here to escape the tyranny that was happening in their country to start a country where they had rights and privileges that they were being denied.  i say, hang on, because unless this thing turns around, and turns around fast, we are all in trouble..big big big trouble.

And when this train gets totally run off the tracks, i will probably be one of the very first ones to be jailed, because i am not going to shut up about these events that are happening that are not fair.  So i will be the martyr, if that is what i am here for.  i am used to playing that role anyway; so be it.

But that is just my opinion, (and only my opinion)..

Hello again; i hope that this blog finds all 4 or 5 of you that read this blog in fine spirits and good moods.  i sincerely hope that all is going well for you and yours. Thanks again to all of you who do read my blogs and give me input..i have said it before and will continue to say thanks, because it really does help me.

i don’t think that this blog is going to be very long; but we will see where it goes…so i make no guarantees.

To fill you in, just recently a male friend of mine on Facebook, who, btw, i have known since 1979, was given an ultimatum from his girlfriend..delete me as a friend or she was walking out the door…UNREAL! There is more going on there in that situation, it isn’t just our friendship, but i will stick with what directly involves me…

She doesn’t like the way i look..okay, go tell God about it, i didn’t ask to look the way i do..and she was reading far too much into the convos we would have…they were no where NEAR inappropriate in any way, because i do NOT go there. i have way too much respect for their relationships then to start that game.  This whole thing has been shocking to me.  Not only that but it hurts me and it pisses me off.

i have extended offers to my male friends who are in relationships that i would enjoy starting a dialogue with their wives and girlfriends if they were up to that because i think that is only fair. i have had no takers yet; but i am holding out hope.

i understand all too well, believe me, that there are some real crazy women out there in cyberspace that will stalk and hunt down men in relationships and cause all kinds of problems.  Unfortunately for her, i am NOT one of those women…i never have been, and i am not going to start now.  i have had it done to me far too many times to count, but that is on those that did that. i am responsible only for my actions, and part of that behavior does not include causing trouble in others relationships. i take the golden rule way on this subject..i do NOT want it done to me (ever again), so i don’t do it to others.

i cannot control what others do. i can only control myself and my actions.  And it hurts, and it pisses me off when other women, who don’t even know me, AND won’t take the opportunity to get to know me as i have offered, place judgments on me.  It isn’t their place to judge me anyway, but if they are going to continue to do so, then fine; i can’t stop them.  What’s done is done…and the damage left is i no longer have a really good friend in my life and that saddens me; all because his girlfriend is insecure and won’t take the chance to get to know me.

i posted a note on my facebook profile for the wives and girlfriends of my male friends.  In a nut shell, i stated that if you have a problem with me, come to me with it.  Giving your man an ultimatum is only going to come back and bite you and bite you hard..

In general, i don’t know of any person who likes ultimatums thrown at them, putting them a very difficult position.  i don’t DO ultimatums; i don’t accept them, and i do NOT tolerate them because it isn’t fair to the other person to have to choose one or the other..now i am strictly speaking about the facebook deal, just so that is clear..with more serious issues, they are understandable, but this is FACEBOOK..jiminy crickets..and this is someone i have known forever and a day it seems..

So now, after reflecting on it for the past few hours (because this just all accumulated yesterday), i have decided fine..i posted the note for the wives and girlfriends; i changed my status to say that i was opening Pandora’s box and getting ready to have a whole lot of fun; and i changed my profile pic back to the modeling shoot one that seemed to get a little more attention than other pics of me.  And not only that, below the pic is a statement that says i put this pic back up because that is the kind of sweet b***h i am. you are more than welcome..; i then commented on my note, stating that if these women are going to continue to be jealous of me, and not get to know me; fine, but i am going to give you a reason to be jealous..

Now some of you out there may think this is the wrong approach, or maybe i should just let sleeping dogs lie, or something along those lines.  Well, i am sorry to dissappoint you..this is the road i am choosing of my own free will, and i am the one that will deal just fine with all the fallout that may or may not come from this action.

What these women are doing is not only wrong, it is so petty, it is laughable (as a friend conveyed to me when i told this story to them)..Life is way to short for all this petty crap. When are you going to understand this???

And, just as an afterthought, when did i become the dog that you women get to kick around and use as excuses for their insecurities and baggage that you yourself brought into the relationship? Because if that is what my job is here on earth, someone forgot to give me the memo on that one.

Not only that, i am warning you now that i am not one of those girls that will lay down and take this lightly.  OH NO….You do NOT get the luxury of judging and attacking me and making me part of the excuse for your troubled relationship, especially when i don’t EVEN know you,  and then get to just walk away. i am going to have something to say to you about that, and if you don’t like it, i don’t care. You involved me and that was not a smart thing to do. Next time, you might want to think twice before involving me into any of your problems. Because the God’s honest truth is i am NOT the problem…YOU ARE..so please do not project anything onto me..and just so you know, my blame card has been full for quite sometime now.  i have nowhere to put you on that list. Sorry.

So like i said, my advice is, and you can take it or leave it, leave me out of your crap; i had nothing to do with it, and go get some help for your insecurities and the other obvious mental problems you have.  Do something positive for you, but DO NOT EVER AGAIN bring me into the situation i had nothing to do with, or the next time, i just might start mentioning names..

but then again, it is just my opinion

take it or leave it…i strongly suggest you take it…

So, here it is, the last day of January already..man, this time is just flying by so fast anymore.  it is such a weird phenomenon.  i first want to thank all of my friends (and those of you who happen to stumble on this blog) for reading it.  i know i have no comments here, but to the friends i have that do read this, i really have enjoyed your absolute honesty with the comments that you leave me, or that we talk about.  it really has been enjoyable and enlightening for me to hear different view points, and thanks again for keeping me in check.

i decided to write about a very simple, or at least what should be a very simple, topic this time around, although i really wanna delve deeper than just hit the surface of it.  So here we go..

i was watching the Oprah show when she had Ted Haggard on.  For those who have not as yet, heard about Mr. Haggard, he is the preacher, who founded the New Life Church, and he was the ousted pastor of that church.  He was ousted for buying drugs and allegedly having sexual relations with this man who sold him the drugs.  Obviously, this was a very big problem.  So he was exiled from the church, and on the outside, understandably so.  You cannot, as the pastor, leader, and founder of a church, be on the pulpit demonizing drug usage and homosexual sex, and be participating in those very behaviors.  That is the very definition of hypocrisy if i have ever heard one.

Now i will get back to Mr. Haggard in a minute, but first i want to say this.  i honestly believe, being a born-again Christian myself, that there is a whole bunch of people that do NOT buy into this Christian ideal for a whole lot of reasons.  But i think that the main reason is because of the sheer hypocrisy they themselves have experienced.  it is so very sad as far as i am concerned.

One of the most important responsibilities i have as a Christian is to be evangelical.  This, in a nutshell, simply means that when the opportunities present themselves, i have a responsibility and a duty to tell people, who generally are not saved, about salvation and how that is obtained. By the way, i DO NOT save them, that job is for someone else; i just inform them the best way i can.  Now, if you haven’t read my previous blogs, i am a very non-judgmental, bible thumping over your head, scripture shoving down your throat kind of Christian.  i take a whole different approach.  What i meant by ‘when opportunities present themselves’ is to me, when unsaved people start asking questions and being curious about theology on whatever level they feel comfortable talking about.  That, i believe, is my perfect opportunity to: #1 find out what level they are on, and #2 talk to them on their level, not on my level.  By conveying to them what i believe the Scripture says from my level would be a self-defeating.  So i have to find out where they are, pray for the vocabulary that i need to speak to them and then, and only then, listen and then speak to them on their level, so they DO understand me; and hopefully keep asking more questions.  Now, i am no where near an expert on theology.  But i do understand certain things, and what i don’t understand, i can look it up (i have plenty of reference books, etc., to look up things i don’t know).

Going deeper into this, i have noticed over many years the pure hypocrisy that is involved in being Christian.  Now don’t get me wrong, i have lived all of my life with a now hopefully ‘reformed’ relative, who was, in the past, constantly sitting on her moral high horse, pointing that hypocritical finger at me, telling me what i believed and didn’t believe.  She would also take it a step further, by going to her church, to tell the members there, what heathens all of her family were and that they needed to pray for us because we were all going to hell.  Okay, whatever.  These people that participate in this kind of behavior are going to self implode the Christian life.  There are many things that enrage me, but nothing more than this kind of thing happening all the time, and not only are they not drawing people to Christ, they are driving them farther away. Now i am just a simple person, but this seems counterproductive to me.

Let me give you a few examples of what i mean.  When Sandi Patty, a Christian singer/songwriter, got divorced, there was an uproar from certain groups of people who claimed to be Christian as well.  Unbelievable to me. i mean seriously, how ridiculous is this.  Believe it or not, in the New Testament (which most Christians live and die by), divorce is allowed by God in certain circumstances.  He does not want you to stay in an unhappy, abusive relationship.  That is NOT what God ever wants for ANYONE, saved or not.  He wants us to be happy and content.  So this whole idea of ousting Ms. Patty for getting divorced is insane to me.

Then there was Michael English.  He is another contemporary Christian singer.  At the 25th Anniversary of the Dove Award Show (a gospel music award show), he won, count them, SEVEN Dove Awards.  For one person to win one is awesome..to win SEVEN, is incredible.  And they were very well deserved.  He has a very powerful voice and is so very talented.  Some time later, he gave all the awards back.  He said he did not deserve them.  Why?  The reason was because he was married, and was having an affair with one of his background singers, and she was pregnant with his child.  Shocking?  Yes, but worth the out and out criticism from the Christian world was not necessary.  This affected me so much, that i actually wrote to Mr. English.  in a nutshell, i told him that i was sorry to hear that he was giving up music and singing totally.  i told him that i understood that what he had done was wrong and i knew that he knew that all to well, also.  BUT, God gave him a gift that he was just throwing away.  i do not have a God given talent to sing, like Mariah or Whitney; but Mr. English does, and God gave him that gift, and i found it very sad that he was just going to toss it away forever.  i begged and pleaded with him not to do this.  it would be a huge mistake, for not only the people that were so positively affected by his music, but he would especially being doing a disservice to those that had not heard his message…yet.  And he caved because all of this was done, by the actions of other Christians, who are pointing their finger at him, criticizing him, all the while, they themselves are living PERFECT lives, don’t ya know? Sure they are..NOT!

And then there is Mr. Haggard.  He stated in the interview, that he was not being punished for doing what he is accused of doing, but instead he was being punished for LYING about it.  Big difference.

There are plenty of Christians who make mistakes, because, (in case you did not know this), these people are HUMAN BEINGS.  We are the most wretched, disgusting, vile beings EVER.  We do NOT deserve God’s love.  But ‘For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him, shall not perish, but have everlasting life.’ (John 3:16).  Simply amazing.

if you have children, and you know without a doubt how much you love and cherish them, multiply that love exponentially, and you will know how much God loves us.

Anyway, getting back on track, people who tout being a Christian, regardless of the branch you are on, have to, and i do mean HAVE TO, stop treating people this way, and being SO judgmental.  Being the judge and jury is above all of our pay grades, and it isn’t part of our job description.  That job belongs to someone else, and HE will take care of it when it is time.  in the meantime, we, as Christians, do not have the privileged of exiling anyone who had done wrong, whether those wrong doers are Christians or not.

Our living example; the One we look to on how to deal with life on Earth and all that arises from that; is Jesus Christ, Himself.  Did he not sleep with lepers?  Did he not break bread with the Pharisees and the tax collectors (which, by definition) were some of the most hated people in their society at the time?  Did he not forgive Mary Magdalene, who, by the way, if you don’t know that name, she was a prostitute?

i understand the judgments all too well, being one of the many who have been judged by other humans, especially Christians, for most of my life.  After all, i do have a child and he was conceived out of wedlock (oh my); and to be quite honest, have judged others unfairly in the past.  But i also understand how powerful compassion can be and how it can affect others in a positive way, not negative.

if you are one of these people, who judge others, and are so critical of the things that YOU think are so vile, i want you to think this.  #1- Those who live in glass houses, should not throw stones..or more theologically put: Matthew 7:1~ “Do not judge, or you too will be judged.” As stated before, it is NOT, nor will it EVER be, our job, Christian or not, to judge others. That is not part of our job description as humans and is well above our pay grade.

We truly need to get over ourselves already.  Can you imagine how much of a better place we can make this life on Earth?  i can imagine it, but it starts with you.  You are the only one in control of you.  You cannot change others; but if we make an honest effort to make this conscience change in our lives, who knows, maybe others will follow our lead?  You just never know until you try.

But after all, that is just my opinion…..

Remember this:

God loves you not because of who you are, but because of who HE is.

i say Thank God and Amen to that.  How about you?

Hello again..nice to ’see’ all of you..hope all is going well for you and your families..

I am sitting here at the computer, mesmerized by the flashing cursor,  trying to think about a subject to discuss and share my feelings on the matter.  And this is what came to mind.

i have been dating since i was 17 or so..well actually, i did have a boyfriend of sorts in Jr. High. Our relationship consisted of him carrying my books for me and sitting with me at lunch time.

Now, reflecting on my social life, i really didn’t have a whole lot of boyfriends; let’s just say that i had more ‘friends with benefits” than actual boyfriends..which, by the way, was a win/win for me at the time because i wasn’t looking for my soul mate.  That is a whole other ‘oprah’ show, so i will just keep moving along now..

To be fair, i have had 15 or so boyfriends. And reflecting back on it, i have noticed a pattern.

The pattern, that actually i have noticed since my early 20’s, goes like this..Girl meets boy, girl dates boy, girl has intimate relationship with boy, boy breaks up with girl, and the climax is…wait for it,

Yep you guessed it..after the break up, boy marries the very next girl that he meets.   This has happened 13 times..that i am aware of.   What are the odds on that?  i would think the odds would be astromical. Lucky me.  So, after a great deal of self analysis, i have come to some conclusions.

The first, and most obvious one, is that in all these relationships, the common denominator is me.  So given that, i then come to the conclusion that maybe i am defective in some way; but that can’t be the answer.   So then that leads me to think that the men i have dated are defective.  Although some were pretty messed up, that doesn’t answer the question sufficiently enough for me; it is not the end all be all answer.

Then i had a brilliant ‘light bulb’ moment.  With the belief of mine, i believe that everyone, and yes i do mean EVERYONE, is given a gift (or in some cases, several) from God. Whether this gift is big or small is a mute point, but everyone does possess some kind of talent.  Just a side note, if you do not agree with the last statement, you are one of the many many people who haven’t found your gift..yet.

Therefore, the ultimate conclusion is that one of my gifts is a guy fixer-upper.  Now don’t get me wrong, i do not enter into a relationship with a ‘Florence Nightingale’ approach.  I know that going into the relationship with the idea that i can ‘fix’ guys is a guarantee that this phenomenon will happen again.  So i stray away from that kind of thinking.  I go into a relationship with an absolute trust and understanding that it has the potential to go on to the next ‘level’..ie a committed, monogamous relationship..and from there, leads to a marriage, eventually.  But this does NOT happen in my case.

Thirteen out of fifteen times is too many for me to consider that it is just a coincidence, or fluky timing or whatever phrase works for you to describe the situation.

I make a few jokes about it.  Like, for instance, maybe i will start a business; and call it “the re bounders”*. It will be an out and out legitimate operation; not a front for prostitution. That would be illegal; and Heidi Fleiss is not a role model for me. i would employ men and women of caliber, of course, and our clients can date my employees, for as long as it takes them to get ‘fixed’..get them to the point where they are then able to meet their spouse-to-be, and they can ride off into the sunset together.  And after they pay us for services rendered, i can stand at the door way of my ‘office’ and holler, ‘NEXT’.  Everybody wins. YEAH BABY!!!

Now, like i said this is one of the jokes i make about this whole thing that happens with me.  But the jokes are actually a cover up, a self-defense mechanism.  They are a band-aid to put on my heart to hide the scars that were left behind; and i have many. Fortunately enough for me, i have dealt with that baggage. I am okay with it, for now.

I know that I cannot be the ONLY one on this earth that this has happened too.  There are probably plenty of people that this has happened to at least once.  But 13 out of 15; honestly?

Another conclusion is that the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior (thank you, Dr. Phil).  So i have just learned and accepted that i am, and probably always will be single.  I am not having a pity party or crying in my beer; just putting the truth out on the table because you can’t fix what you don’t acknowledge (Again, i say, thank you, Dr. Phil).  I know, without a doubt, that there is someone, ( if not only one person) out there who knows how this feels. Odds are that they probably have not had it happen to them as consistently as i have, but they still can understand the sentiment.

So for all those men out there, if you are broken, shattered, ripped to shreds, and completely devastated, give me a shout, and i will do my very best to help you out.  As you have read, you know that i have a great record for success.  I’m guessing it is about an 87% chance of success, give or take.  Well, actually it is an 86.666666666% chance,  but for argument sake, i just rounded up.

In all honestly, i cannot explain why this happens.  I just must be the luckiest person in the world. I will continue to be spreading joy and happiness wherever i go and give those who need it, the ego boost they need, and put them out on the road to finding their true love. So be warned, if you date me and break up with me, you will, more than likely, be married to the next woman you meet.  And please remember, i do reserve the right to refuse service to anyone, for any reason. So be very careful what you wish for.

But after all, it is just my opinion.

May God bless you with happiness and prosperity throughout this extremely unique and history making year.

* “the re bounders” is a copyrighted term and cannot be used without the expressed written consent of, well, me.

So, we have made it to 2009; Happy New Year to all; i know it is late, but couldn’t be helped..so better late than never.

i think that at this time, most of us are either reflecting on the past or looking forward to the future..i have been finding myself doing the former for more reasons than i can list here.  But i will tell you that reminiscing about the past, when times were so much more simpler and uncomplicated, has a positive impact on me.  Don’t misunderstand me..i don’t live in the past, because you don’t move forward if you are constantly looking back…

Reminiscing for me puts me in a much better place and mood for some reason.  I have been having a whole lot of flashbacks just being a member of Facebook and getting back in touch with those people who’s names i haven’t heard in 20 or so years, at least..I had a lot of good times and i lived life like there was no tomorrow.  i have always stated that i have had enough fun in my life..in fact, i have had enough fun for about 10 people..When one starts looking back on their life and experiences, i think one (hopefully) takes certain life lessons from those experiences to make their life now even better..

There are certain truths that we as humans cannot deny that we learn through time..For example, i know for a fact that when you are at your lowest point in life, you find out who your true friends really are. This truth i have only had to experience twice in my life.  The first time was when i moved back home when i was pregnant to have my child where my support system was, or at least where i thought it was at the time.  Nineteen of twenty friends of mine scattered like cockroaches when you turn on the lights when i informed them of my joyous news.  I could have had the plague, small pox, or even mad cow disease, and i don’t think they would have left me; but somehow pregnancy is different to them.  Have never figured that one out.  But then again, i am not the one who has to live with deserting a friend when they needed me, nor will i EVER have to live with that.  But what was worse, were the people who maliciously and falsely went around our very small town, talking crap about what they thought happened with my situation, when they, in truth, didn’t know a thing about what had happened..they did not know my son’s biological father, let alone, why i ended up back in Scottsbluff, pregnant and alone.  So to those of you, and you know who you are, i tell you this..karma is a bitch..and you will have to answer for the deeds you have done.  The ones that participated in this cruel activity were extremely immature in doing so.  I felt sorry for them, because they must have, and still do have, a very low self-esteem. They felt like they had to make me look bad in order for them to look good.  And this was being said by people i had known most of my life, and i never did anything to them to provoke them in anyway.  I just came back home to have a child and do what I felt was right for me and my life.  And in turn, was being crucified, for lack of a better word, in public, for what?  For their self-esteem to be boosted by saying things like “She tried to trap the father..too bad for her that she got stuck with a kid..ha ha ha” and was being called a “gold digger”…Hate to burst your bubble, but my son’s father had NOTHING to offer me as far as any material things; he didn’t have money; he didn’t have a house, he did have the clothes on his back and that is it..and if you wanna call that gold digging; than i need to buy you a dictionary and read the definition of a gold digger..It has certainly been proved that these are definitely activities that you yourself have participated in; but not me..i have never been materialistic or narcissistic, or self involved..like you…and i never will be, because through others who act this way, i have never seen the upside to this behavior.  i only see this coming back on you tenfold and kicking you in the butt; which, by the way, is exactly what you deserve.

This brings me to the second thing i know for a fact:  You reap what you sow.  You get out of life exactly what you put in.  And if the bed you are lying in is uncomfortable for you: First of all, you should have made it better, but secondly, you deserve what you get.  We all have to answer for our shortcomings. i am not saying that i am better than anyone else, because i am not.  But at least i have always tried to be better than i was yesterday.  And i do not go around talking crap about someone else who doesn’t deserve it.  Especially when i have known that person for 40 years of my life.  But some people change; most of them for the better..but the limited few i do know have gone down a path of narcissism and i feel sorry for them and i especially feel sorry for their children.  i pray that the kids will grow up to know better because they are not getting that lesson from you.  So Sad….

The third thing i know is true is that life is much more easy when your foundation is solid.  I also know that when you surround yourself with people who only want you to be the best “you” you can be (sounds like an Army commercial, sorry), life is less complicated.  Having a support system is critical in getting through life and what it throws at you when you least expect it.

I have had to stand by those who did things that were either things that i absolutely didn’t agree with or I have, and still am standing by those, (and i am talking strictly about past relationships here) who have broken my heart.  It is sometimes a very challenging thing to stand by friends who have made decisions in their life that go totally against my value system..but then again, i don’t have to answer for their actions; i only have my own to answer for.  And it was the right thing to do to support them in those decisions and i don’t regret it.  One was an incident that happened in the late 80’s to early 90’s…and the other happened last year.

The latter i will shed some light on for you.  In a nutshell, i met a man online 2 years ago this coming May.  We developed a very solid base for the relationship that came later.  He was here in Montana a year ago, to celebrate Christmas and New Year’s with my son and i.  and later i had made plans to meet him in Omaha, NE, in June, for 3 1/2 weeks to a month, so i could spend some much needed time with him to develop our long-distance relationship and go storm chasing for the first time in my life; i was really looking forward to that.  As life would have it, i didn’t make it to Omaha.  He had hit a run of bad luck; engine blew on his car, he wasn’t getting footage of the storms, and so in turn, was not getting any money; and he was having to pay for a rental for the remainder of his time there.  Even though i had saved enough to pay for my living expenses while there, he wasn’t making enough for his share; so the trip was canceled a week before i was to meet him.

There were a mirage of other things that happened to make things even worse for him, by his own actions and bad decisions.  So in July, he broke it off with me.  But the way he went about it was really odd, for lack of a better word.  I would refer to the conversation later, as having spoken to “crack (insert his name here)”.  The person that i spoke to that day was not even close to the person i had come to know pretty well.  With the knowledge of what my ‘deal breakers’ were, he presented 2 out of the 3 deal breakers that i have and will always have; he then asked where my loyalties stood..I still have not figured out why he presented it that way, because he had NO reason or inclination to be testing me in any way, shape or form.  I was nothing but truly faithful to him and only him during our relationship.

I could have never done anything to put our relationship in jeopardy, because i would have lost one of the most incredible human beings i had ever come to know. I can’t even count how many levels we connected on, because there were so many, and so many very important ones, that i would have rather torn out my own heart and put it before him, than to tell him that i lied or cheated on him on any level: and that is not even close to an exaggeration. it is the God’s honest truth.

But throughout the break-up, as hard as it was, and it was very, very hard ( i still cry every now and then); i was, what i can only explain to you as being commissioned by the Holy Spirit to stay by his side and not to leave.  No there was no Fatal Attraction theme at all to this..it was a mission i was given, and i believe with all my heart that the Holy Spirit was telling me that this man still needed me; needed me to be a support, to be a friend, to be a soft place to fall if that is what he needed, to be a adviser, or whatever other role i was to fill for God on His behalf.

So we have stayed in contact.  He loves me like a Christian sister and i still love him with all i have; and when we do talk, on those rare occasions, i count myself blessed to still have him in my life.  Yes, i still have things to work through; still grieving the loss; the loss of the dreams that we had together, the loss of the life we would have had, the loss of a constant and completely compatible other half; It is what it is, and i am not sorry for God bringing us together.

Another, but certainly not the least, truth i know, is that there is a grand plan being carried out here. There are plans for us, as individuals, and us as a united body of humans.  Nothing happens by coincidence. Far too many things have happened with me, personally, that if you had to figure the odds of the situation coming together the way it did, just by chance, there is not a big enough number to calculate the odds of these things happening by coincidence.  It has always been Divine Intervention.  I am not telling you what you should or shouldn’t believe; i am just expressing what I believe to be true for me.

There is that saying that God puts people on our path for reasons.  Sometimes He puts us in on other people’s path, and sometime he puts others on ours..  But it is always for a very good reason.  And if you can recognize that, then you will truly be blessed tenfold throughout your life..

Sorry for this blog not being as fluent as it could have been.  i wanted to purge certain things out.  i hope it all kind of makes sense to someone out there.  Sometimes my thoughts don’t flow in a straight line, and i don’t write rough drafts for these; i just start typing; and what comes out, is on the page..

I wish all of you very good things for this coming year..and i hope to have some interesting things to write about in the future; but we all have to wait for that to happen; and when it does happen, you will be the first to hear about it;

but that is just my opinion..

God Bless you and keep you safe throughout the year and through your many travels; may He keep you strong through the trials that may come your way; and may He keep you aware and able to recognize those things that come your way, those things that you would be very sad to lose, if you had not had the chance to experience them.  Take care.  Make 2009 a year to never forget

I thought i would blog about my life.  Putting this stuff out there for all to read puts me in very vulnerable position and i fully realize that.  However, i think that this story might help explain some things about me and why i think the way i do, and why i do some of the things i do…

I, like SO many others, have had a rough go at life, starting at a very early age…my problems and situations i have had to endure are certainly not as bad as others, so please do not make the mistake of thinking i am crying in my beer, because i am not..just giving the readers (all 3 of them..lol) some insight which might explain a lot of things i say in later blogs..

I was adopted at 3 1/2 weeks old.  We lived in Helena, MT for 3 years, then moved to Steagal, NE for a short time (we did live right across from the firehouse and the winery there)..for those that don’t know, Stegal is an intersection of 2 dirt roads; one running north and south, the other running east and west; no stoplight and no stop sign..and that is pretty much all that is there..at the time i lived there, i think there was a gas station/grocery store on one corner..and some other building on the other across the street.  There were 4 houses to the south of the intersection and i am thinking 3-5 houses to the north.  Blink and you miss it..

A few years later, we moved to Morrill, NE..a metropolis compared to Steagal..1000 people lived there.  We lived there until the summer before my 6th grade year.  Then we moved to Scottsbluff…and lived on the east side of town in a trailer court..Never felt so redneck in my life.  I am not saying that is a bad thing, i am just saying..For those not knowing, the east side of Scottsbluff is the “bad” side of town and to top it off, i had to go to the elementary school in that district in which caucasians were the minority.

I don’t say this to be offensive or prejudice.  I say this because i never had experienced anything like the environment there at that school.  I was a waif in 6th grade, and was bullied unmercifully by the kids there; not all of them, but a certain group of them, and y’all should know who you are.  For 3 1/2 months, i went home balling and crying and begging my mom to change my school.  But she wouldn’t do it.  My homeroom teacher even told me once (after the kids stole the candy out of my desk that i bought from the Dairy before school) that i should quit crying over spilled milk.  I had my hair (usually worn in a ponytail) pulled to the point that i thought they were going to rip my head off my body.  They locked me in the janitor’s closet with another boy (which scared the crap out of me).  And then there was dodge ball. I don’t think i have to explain the torture that was for me.  Sufficed to say, i went home with welts and bruises whenever we played that game (a game of which should be banned from elementary and jr. high schools).

I, being new to the school, did try so very hard to make friends, but for the most part, it was impossible.  So after 3 1/2 months and the candy stealing incident, i decided to ask my teacher for a favor.  The favor…Could i please perform a tap routine for the class…and she said ‘SURE’.. We scheduled a good time for this event, and i performed.  The looks on the faces of most of the class was nothing short of astonishment.  I think this was because of a couple of reasons.  One was i was doing something they couldn’t and two; if they had ever seen tap dancing, it was probably only on TV.  I received nothing but compliments and to top it off, my teacher thought it was so good that she went to another classroom, and brought those kids in to see it also.  After wards, the kids did not pick on me, as bad..Yep, they still called me names, but the names went from ’skeleton’ to ‘dancing skeleton’..a HUGE improvement in my eyes.

Then there was jr. high..and the torture was so much worse there. I had every body part slammed into lockers, was pushed up and down the stairs, knocked around by a whole bunch of kids, and even was almost dropped from the third floor railing in the stairwell.  On top of all of that, the verbal abuse was coming from both sides.  The girls and boys were equally as horrible to me.  The old ’sticks and stones’ adage is so not true..Words hurt so much more than anything that was being done to me on a physical level.  I must say at this point, that kids are cruel and for the most part all suffer from some form of bullying or another.  However, i was not only getting abused at school, i was getting sadistically abused at home too.   Not just physically abused, but tortured at home.

My mother (who i love and respect dearly) didn’t have it easy either.  She was horribly abused as a kid growing up and so was her mother.  My mom would beat me with anything she could grab at the time.  All kids need discipline, however, the corporal punishment that happened behind closed doors in my world went way beyond anything one would consider abuse.

I absolutely know without a doubt, that my mother did the very best that she could at the time.  Please do not think i am blaming or hatin’ on her, because i am not. My father, when he left, and mom and dad were divorced when i was six, was a huge part of why mom did the things she did.  He NEVER paid child support, so mom was forced to work 2, and at times 3 jobs, to maintain the household.  She worked very hard, and when she got home, she had 2 kids; and wild ones at that; to deal with, and she did the only thing she knew how to do…drink and be abusive..Those were the only tools she had, so i can’t blame her because she honestly didn’t know any better way to deal with the stress that she endured.  Then you add in the adage of ‘abused kids grow up and abuse their kids’; and what you have is an endless cycle that you cannot escape.  Also add in that it is my opinion that my mom felt like she NEEDED a man to feel worthy. I can tell you that women who believe this line of thinking tend to attract and choose men who are not only alcoholics, but who are sadistically abusive on top of it; whether they are drunk or not..

Then high school happened.  When i turned sixteen and obtained a driver’s license, I was ‘hell on wheels’.  That is when i started smoking cigs and drinking, skipping a WHOLE lot of school, and pretty much doing my own thing..My mom was married for the 3rd time when i turned 17.  This “jewel” of a man lived with us for 4 years prior.  But after the marriage, of which i was totally against (in fact, i was against the whole relationship from the very beginning, because when i first met him when i was 13, i had a very strong sense there was something very wrong with him and he scared me).  But being so young and being the child, i had no choice and had no voice, to disapprove, not that i didn’t express my feelings to mom because i did.  She in turn called me crazy and dismissed my gut instinct about him..This was okay because what parent is going to have their life run, and have major decisions made by a 13 year old? No one, exactly right.

The abuse that both of us (my mom and i) endured from him was not right, nor was it justified on any level.  There is nothing worse.  The physical, psychological, mental, and verbal abuse was horrible enough to endure..but worse than that, was hearing this monster beat my mom to a pulp, and hearing him choking the life out of her, trying to kill her, and hearing her struggle and gasp for air, and there wasn’t one thing i could do to make it stop.  That kind of abuse is so much harder to overcome than the physical abuse that he did to me.  I made many trips in the middle of the night to the police department to BEG them to go to my house and make it stop.  But the ‘rambo’ police, or keystone cops employed by our city, claimed that if they were called to a domestic abuse call, they could not enter the house or even knock on the door UNLESS they heard a struggle going on inside.  So the cops would come; He would see them coming, and he would put his hand over mom’s mouth or gag her in other ways, so she would not be able to alert the cops that there was a problem.  The cops wouldn’t hear a struggle from outside, while they sat in their car, with the window rolled down and they would leave to go eat their donuts.  After they left, the abuse was exponentially worse for my mom.

Sufficed to say, i did NOT spend a lot of time at home.  Who would want to? 

For years later, after i had moved out, i just knew that my phone would ring in the middle of the night with the news that he had killed her.  It was really hard.  When i was 17, after a horrible beating from him, i went to my job before school, to let her know i wasn’t going to be able to work for a few days.. I was on crutches and bruised and beaten to a pulp, and after leaving my job; i showed up to school, and by first period, i was being called to the office.  There i was met with the principle, the vice-principle, and THREE social workers; all there to tell me that i had to get out of the house and they had to remove me from the destructive and potentially deadly situation.  I told them that i COULD NOT leave my mom alone with “that monster” because he would kill her if i wasn’t there.  I figured he could beat me as bad as he wanted; i was younger and would heal faster; then he wouldn’t beat my mom as bad.  Screwed up thinking, I know; but that was my reality.

Because of all of this, i wouldn’t go home a whole lot.  I hated that place.  I had to walk on eggshells whenever he was around, because just the slightest thing would set him off.  It sucked BIG TIME…

I had quite a bit of resentment for my mom for a very long time.  She chose him over me.  She wasn’t protecting me (because she couldn’t most of the time).  There were a handful of times that she did get me out of the house, but most of the time, i was imprisoned and couldn’t leave. Just as one example, he would beat my mom in the back of the trailer to the point where she couldn’t hardly move..then he would go out to the living room and move the furniture around to block the front door exit..and when my mom and i would try to leave, with it being pitch black in the house, we would run, slamming into the furniture that we didn’t nor could see to avoid.  He has a sick, sadistic mind..

The contempt for my mom is no longer there.  I have forgiven her for all that.  And only because i had quite a few lightbulb moments since then.

The very first one came when i was pregnant with my son.  My biggest fear was feeling like i was going to physically abuse my son and i would have no choice, because of the pattern that had been set in place for years; “abused children grow up to abuse their children”.  The very thought of this made me sick.  I did NOT want my child to experience anything that i had, on any level.  But i felt hopeless.  It was going to happen whether i wanted it to or not.  Then i watched a prime time Oprah special.  It was called “Scared Silent” and it had some of the most horrific stories of child abuse i had ever heard.  The five stories told made my life experiences look like Disneyland.  But there was one very important point that i got from watching that show.  The lesson that i learned was that abuse is a conscious act on the abusers part.  When you raise your hand to hit your kid, you are very clear thinking.  You KNOW what you are going to do. You KNOW you have intent to hurt and hurt that person badly.  But because the motion of raising your hand is done with intent and motive and is a concious effort on your part….YOU CAN STOP IT!!!!! You do NOT have to follow through.  I was thanking GOD for this revelation.  I breathed a sigh of relief just knowing that i did NOT have to abuse my kid cuz i was abused..I could stop the cycle..

The other revelation i have had about this comes more from a theological standpoint.  “A Purpose-Driven Life” is a book that i HIGHLY recommend all of you to read, regardless of your religion or beliefs.  Because before i read this, i was resenting my mom so bad.  After reading a few chapters, i realized that God put me in that family (being adopted by them) for a reason; and it was not so i could be tortured and hurt; that credit goes to Satan.

I believe God’s plan is perfect and there are reasons for everything that happen in your life, whether they are good or bad.  I was in a relationship a couple of years ago with a guy who i met on the internet.  He was everything i had ever dreamed of.  I was 39.  He was 33 and absolutely perfect.  We ended up meeting in Vegas (bad idea, btw) and he was still this perfect man for me, so 3 days into our 5 day stay, we got married.  We both left Vegas 2 days later and within a week, he was on a bus to move in with me.  From the moment that he stepped into my apartment, this perfect man that i had fallen so hard for started showing me his true colors, and they WERE not even close to anything he had be proclaiming to be.  Sufficed to say, he was only in my house until March 9th and on a bus back to where he came from on March 10th.  It was a really bad situation that was only going to get worse.

But here is the point.  God put me in horrible situations, not to hurt me; but to help me for this situation i was in, with an extremely abusive and manipulating person, so that i could recognize the pattern of abuse that he held within him, and so that i could get him out of my house, before doing anymore damage to my son and i.  And believe me, things were going on that were not good.  I honestly believe he was grooming my son for the sole purpose of sexually abusing him.  I have very good reasons for believing this.  His actions to my son were not even close to appropriate.  And he was messing with my head big time.  Everyday was a headgame..If he would have stayed in my house one more day, because of the psycological abuse that he was doing to me on an everyday basis, he would have ended up with the claw end of hammer in his head while he slept; because I had endured so much in the past, I was absolutely not going to have it happen in my house, married or not.  He had to go; and it was only by the strength of God that i could throw him out.  He had me so wore down psychologically and mentally, i could not even function in a normal way.  I allowed him into my house and i allowed him to treat me the way he did; but only for a very short amount of time.  I am not sorry that he is gone.  I have never shed a tear over the fact that he is gone.  The only reason i have cried, is because i really let my son down by bringing that vile human being into my house; and he potentially could have gotten away with quite a bit more damage to my son and i.  If not for God placing me with the people i call my parents, or if i would have been placed with a family who would have given me “a Brandy bunch” life; i honestly believe he would still be here today; and i would be the most horrible and depressed person on this earth.

I have a lot of residual things that i am trying to deal with. Severe Depression, PTSD, agoraphobia, social phobia, migraines, seizures, blackouts and trust issues up the ying-yang; but i am working on those things and blogging about it is therapeudic for me.

I do not want anyone to feel sorry or have sympathy for me and what i went through.  I know all to well that there are plenty of people who are or have had it so much worse than i did.  But i do want to help people; actually that is wrong..I want to help just one person..and if telling the world my story accomplishes that task, then it was absolutely worth going through and enduring it.  And i would do it again, given the choice.

All of my experiences, decisions (good or bad), and happenings in life have brought me to this “place” i am in now.  If any one of those things had been done differently, i might not be here at all..

But of course, it is just my opinion…

God Bless all of you, your family, your friends and loved ones and enemies wherever they may be…Also i want to wish all of you a very MERRY CHRISTMAS; and i send you nothing but the best of wishes, hopes, dreams, and prayers for the coming NEW YEAR..may we all be just a bit better than we were yesterday, and strive to be even better tomorrow..Peace and joy to all of you..

Okay..so here i am trying to think of something to blog about that would be of interest to someone out there in the world wide web..First i will say thank you to Matches who left a comment on my last blog..i appreciate your input and your opinion..

This morning i woke up, turned on my computer, and clicked on the bookmark for my Facebook profile.  When i got there, i realized that there was a friend of mine who left a comment about someone putting a pic on another website.  Being new to all of this computer stuff, i clicked on the link; i know, not a good idea; but i was curious and just a tad bit upset that someone would be posting my pic on another website without my knowledge or consent.  The site i went to had a survey of 5 of the most unintelligent questions..i liken it to the SAT or ACT test for dummies..then it asked for my cell number so they could give me a key to unlock the page so i could view the photo.  I put in a very old cell number, i also had to enter the name of the person who put my pic on this site and give my first and last name, so the site could direct me to the pic..Then i was caught up in a vortex of instructions that i had already done and i started thinking this probably was NOT a good idea..

I then went back to my profile and clicked on her profile and she had a status comment saying she didn’t know who put that on her profile and sent it to her friends..THEN it dawned on me that i probably should have went to her profile first..i made a comment to her that if she didn’t do it, then someone had probably phished her account and did it for her..she commented back and said it had happened to some friends of hers too; but there was no harm done, so no big deal..to her.

To me, however, it was a little bit different.

There are many things in this life that just bug me to no livin’ end and one of those things is these morons who phish accounts, and mess with people’s profiles; all the while, thinking how funny is this.

Let me tell you how ‘funny’ it is..see this room full of empty people:  that is how many people think what you do is funny.  Please, for the love of God and all that is holy, do NOT go into comedy; cuz you won’t make it very far.  I say this to those ignorant and childish people who get their jollies invading other people’s profile.  I also say to those of you engaging in this activity, that you really, and i mean really need to get a job.  AND if you cannot find one, give me a shout out and i will find one for you…

So after mulling this over in my brain for a few minutes, i decided to update my status by saying “______ is upset at whichever nimrod and smagma
hacked into dana’s account and put the post of the pic being
online…Hack into my account, you coward..i dare you. 11:43am

- Comment..Then i changed my status comment to say “______ is curious to know how many people know what smagma is; and did you have to Google it?…”

I got 6 comments from my friends; one of which put the first part of his comment in all caps..kind of figured he was a tad upset..why i don’t know…for the record, i was not trying to insult anyone’s intelligence, i was just curious to know how many people knew what ’smagma’ is..but curiosity did kill a cat, didn’t it?

I have a warped sense of humor and i think that with statements made on the internet, it is difficult to get some points across as you can talking IRL with someone..sarcasm sometimes does not go over too well when it is just words on the screen…

Not only that, but people who have to use 3, 4, and 5 letter words to get their point across in an ordinary conversation are only proving how unintelligent they are BECAUSE their vocabulary is so limited.

So i feel that i do not have to stoop to their immature level to let ‘them’ know how i feel about their pathetic attempt at humor..i can get my point across without swearing and still be extremely affective in saying what i want to say to ‘these people’…

I also figured that ‘they’ started this ball rolling, and they personally involved me into it, so they deserve to be told exactly what i think about them; and if ‘they’ don’t like it, tough toenails, baby..you made your bed; you lie in it…

Everyone in life gets out what they put in..and if what you are putting out there is this kind of stuff; why you are messing with people you don’t even know.  By these actions you maliciously have taken, you absolutely have opened yourself up to all the criticism and opinions we have.  Nobody gave you the consent or the right to do these things.

It is true that i could have just let it go, but this is the road i chose..

You who do this are nothing short of cowards.  I almost feel sorry for you that you don’t have anything more creative or positive to do with your time..

Just remember this:  YOU REAP WHAT YOU SOW…. and also remember that when this comes back on you someday in the future, because it will absolutely find you, and you are going to be sorry..and if you don’t believe me, then continue to be immature, childish, naive and ignorant..Certainly your choice to do what you want with your time in life, but life is honestly too short for this stuff..You should crawl out from under the rock where you reside, and take a look around and see what is happening in the world today..By you taking these actions, you are perpetuating the negative and ugly part of our world.

It has been said that “When you know better, you do better”.  Now that you know, the choices are yours to make..

But then again, it is just my opinion:

May God bless and keep you, your family, your loved ones, and your enemies safe; wherever they may be…

I hope that you are ready..but not quite sure if i am…

This blog (and all future ones) is the brainchild, not of myself, but of a long time friend of mine, Sandy Walker (who also blogs here, and blogs quite well, i might add).  With her STRONG encouragement, i have decided to join the band wagon of bloggers..so here goes my first blog..i hope that you enjoy it…

The first thing that you probably need to know about me is that i am a born-again Christian..please do not stop reading at this point.  I only mention this because it is a huge part of who i am today, and who i am becoming for the future.  Please DO NOT take this as an entitlement that i have that you do not if you are not a believer…i am not a “bible beating over your head” or a “shoving scripture down your throat” kind of Christian.  I am extremely non-judgmental, because it is not my place to judge anyone. That job belongs to someone else..which leads to the story i am about to put out here for the whole world to read…

When i first moved to Montana from Nebraska, i found a woman who i graduated with, and it just so happened that she lived about 15 miles from me.  I was excited to get back in contact with her as i had not seen her since high school. I am not going to reveal who this was, even though my classmates will be curious to know who she is, but i do not feel that it is important to know who she is; rather it is more important what happened with us…

Like i said, i got back in contact with her, and at first it was wonderful.  Just seeing a familiar face and seeing who she was now, meeting her children, catching up on lost years..everything was going fine:  UNTIL….

She had probably been visiting me at my apartment 4 or 5 times.  After the last time she was in my house, she called me up extremely agitated and upset at me.  I was dumbfounded and yet extremely curious what it was that had her in such a state…was it something i had said or done to her? This was the question i kept asking myself, while reflecting on the recent conversations we had been having..

It soon became very apparent why she was upset.  The reason was, while she was very much a Christian and had been from the time that i had known her in jr. high, and still is walking the walk and talking the talk, she was extremely upset because i had the Harry Potter series of books on my bookshelf.  They were located underneath the shelf that held my bibles and all Christian related books; and right beside the Stephen King books, of which i am collecting in hard back.

As the conversation continued, she became more and more upset, to the point of tears.  She was trying to relate the fact that i had these books in my house that my salvation was in serious question.  I tried to tell her that these books were FICTIONAL.  She retorted with the statement that if my son kept reading them, he would end up practicing witchcraft; of which i responded “Do you think i should get him enrolled at Hogwart’s now or wait?”  Not appreciating my sarcasm, she then went off on this idea that if she cheated on her husband and told me, and i told her that would be wrong, she would say to me that it wouldn’t be wrong because it wasn’t hurting anyone…i know, the connection between the two subjects made no sense to me either..still not sure what point she was trying to get across.

She continued to get more and more judgmental and angry and when i had had enough criticism from her, i pointed out that first of all, it wasn’t her job to judge anything i do, and if it was, when did she change her name to JESUS..Secondly, i pointed out, again, these books are works of FICTION, and i seriously doubted my son would take up witchcraft anytime soon.  Thirdly, i told her that J.K. Rowling had accomplished, all by herself, something that our entire school system couldn’t, and still can’t..that is that she encouraged tens of thousands of kids to learn to read, just so they could read Harry Potter books…

Lastly, i told her that i respected her opinion, although i innately disagreed with it.  So i told her that if she didn’t want anything to do with Harry Potter, that was fine; BUT you can’t just not buy the books and condemn those that do.

You better do a whole lot of research on who all the companies and their parent companies are because they are the ones who fund the machine that is Harry Potter.  After you find that out, although i cannot say it for a fact, but i would almost bet that ABC is involved somehow; and if they are, their parent company is Disney; so you need to get rid of all things Disney out of your house and do not purchase anything made by Disney or go to any park of thiers.  Also you need to research all of the companies that have ads on ABC and boycott those products from your house.

In other words, for me, it isn’t just enough to rag on Harry Potter and as a Christian, tell other Christians to ban him from your house; because as long as you are buying products from Disney or ABC, you are not only funding, but you are condoning the very thing that you are so adamant in condemning…

For me, the very core of Harry Potter is all about good vs. evil, and good wins every single time..how bad of an idea is that to be instilling into our children again?

I have not gotten rid of the books and plan on having the whole series, in hard back and DVD. And i am not going to apologize to her or anyone.  Like i had mentioned earlier, the reason she was concerned about my salvation being in question..

I come from the belief of “once saved, always saved”…and this is why;

Romans 8:38-39

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God, that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

I do believe that statement includes Harry Potter.

But after all, it is just my opinion…

God Bless all of you and your families, friends, loved ones and enemies, wherever they may be…